Garage Doors

 If you have a garage then you most likely have a garage door. This is great news because in Hawaii that means you have parking and parking is an added value to your rental.

Garage doors are pretty simple. You have a door, a door track, a motor, 2 remotes and a door button in most cases.

The door can cause problems if not serviced. Common issues are the sensors come out of alignment, they could get blocked, bumped or the lenses can get dirty. One sensor controls the power and the other is for the sensor alignment. Each one has a light on it and if you put your hand in front of them one of them will go out or blink, that is the sensor one. Your lights should be on and solid on each one of the sensors for the door to close properly. This is a safety issue so the door doesn’t shout on a human being.

The next issue on the door is the spring and pulley system. Depending on your door you could have 1 spring or 2 springs. They usually last for over 10,000 opening and closings.  IF a door opens a little and then stops or goes back down, check to make sure your spring did not break. Look close as sometimes the break is small. Next check to make sure the rollers on the side of the door are still inside the track on each side.

Next are the remotes and the door button. Check that the batteries are good. The door button has a lock on it so if you go on vacation, you can lock it so the remotes don’t work. Make sure you didn’t accidentally lock the opener. The two remotes should have 2 or 3 buttons on it. You can program each button for a different function. Review your owner’s manual to learn how to program. you remote. For most openers you will have a LEARN button on the motor, push the learn button, it will blink, then push the remote button you want to program. Depending on the unit, the light will blink or the learn button will blink. Once that happens it is programmed and you can push the button to make sure it works. If it does, repeat the step for the 2^nd remote. The door button does not need to be programmed as it is hard wired to the motor.

Things to check:

1.    Sensors

2.    Spring

3.    Rollers

4.    Remote batteries

5.    Remote Programming